Hi AFCHES families, 

As we continue to process the events that took place in Uvalde, Texas– we as the social work team wanted to provide you all with more resources and extra support on how to navigate the day and week. We know that you are your own experts with managing your feelings and implementing coping mechanisms, so these are extra tips in case you are feeling stuck.

We want to encourage you all to take time to process and honor your own feelings and emotions even before you navigate through a potential conversation with your scholars. This is important because we want to ensure that our scholars are not exposed to our own anxieties and can feel reassured and safe with our thoughts and feelings that we can verbalize in an age-appropriate manner. 

Know that you are not alone, and we encourage you to lean into your support systems as you continue to navigate and process this most recent event. Below are some resources that we hope can be helpful to inform next steps including having age-appropriate conversations with your scholar. 

Click to access parents_guidelines_for_helping_youth_after_the_recent_shooting.pdf

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-school-shootings

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline/coping-tips

– AFCHES Social Work Team

Ms. Park and Ms. Williams

New York Families,

Since the start of the pandemic, safety has been our top priority. Our collective hard work of consistently following CDC guidelines resulted in successfully minimizing the spread of COVID-19 within our schools. Today, I am writing an important update about Achievement First’s approach to masking in our schools.

The CDC recently shifted it’s COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools, no longer  recommending mask requirements for schools in communities with low to medium risk of COVID-19 spread and severity at the community level. New York State’s Governor Kathy Hochul lifted the state-wide school mask mandate earlier this week, and the New  York City Department of Education announced earlier today that beginning on Monday, March 7th, the school mask mandate will be lifted.

Given the CDC guidance and the DOE’s announcement, our AF high schools will shift from “masks required” to “masks highly recommended”  beginning on Monday, March 7th. We will support staff and families in the choice they make for themselves and their families, and continue to provide high quality masks for staff and students who choose to wear them.

Our AF elementary and middle schools will implement the district policy one week later, on March 14.  We will ask all elementary and middle school families to send their scholars to school with a mask until March 14, and we will have additional masks available for those who may not bring them. We will continue to provide high-quality masks for all those who wish to use them through the end of the school year.

If you would like your scholar to continue wearing a mask, we ask that you ensure your scholar is clear on your expectations for them keeping their mask on all day. While masks will be highly recommended, our staff will not be tracking or managing family preference on student masking as we focus on implementing our other safety measures.

Please note that once the mask mandate is lifted, masks will still be required in the following situations: 

• If an individual tests positive for COVID-19, is asymptomatic and returns on Day 6 of infection, they must wear a high-quality mask for days 6-10. 
• If a staff member has a vaccine exemption, they must continue to wear a high-quality mask to school daily. 

It is also our expectation that students/staff members who have been exposed to COVID-19 wear a mask while at school for 10 days after the date of exposure. 

Masks may also be required in the following situations: 

• When COVID-19 Activity Level is elevated in our communities, we may reinstate universal masking.
• During an outbreak or general increase in cases, universal masking in affected classrooms may be required. 

All of our other safety mitigation strategies, including ventilation, social distancing, hand hygiene, and staying home while sick, will continue to be in place. Our website includes information on all of our updated policies.  

If you are interested in opting your child into the weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing program please fill out THIS FORM

With Gratitude
Achievement First

Hi families,

As a reminder there are several policies in place in regards to COVID-19. Please be sure to review the policies below and contact the main office if your student falls into any of these categories.

• If your student has tested positive for COVID-19 via an at home, rapid, or PCR test, you must do the following:
  • Quarantine your student for 10 days regardless of vaccination status.
  • Submit a copy of your test results or test to the main office. You must provide the school with the date symptoms started and/or the date the test was taken.
  • Your student cannot return to the building without confirmation that they have quarantined for the full 10 days.
• If your student was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, you must do the following:
  • If your student IS vaccinated and not experiencing any symptoms: they can return on Thursday, 1/13 ONLY if proof of vaccination has been submitted to the school.
  • iF your student is unvaccinated and not experiencing symptoms: they must quarantine for 10 days OR receive a negative result for a lab test taken at least 5 days after the day the infected person was last with them, they may return after Day 7.
  • If your student is experiencing symptoms and WAS exposed: quarantine for 10 days after the infected person was last with them regardless of test results.
• If your student is experiencing any symptoms related to COVID-19 (and was NOT exposed), you must do the following:
  • Receive a Positive Test: Quarantine for 10 days from first day of symptoms
  • Receive a Negative Test:  Confirmed fever-free for 24 hours without use of medication AND is experiencing overall improvement in symptoms
  • No Test: Quarantine for 10 days from first day of symptoms
• Awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test (was NOT exposed and is NOT experiencing symptoms), you must:
  • Wait until you receive their NEGATIVE results before sending them to school. 

While students are not required to return to school with a negative COVID-19 test, we are strongly encouraging this for all the entire AF Crown Heights Elementary School. It is incredibly important that you do NOT send your student to school if they are experiencing any symptoms related to COVID-19 or have recently been exposed to a positive individual.

AF will continue to contact trace and close contacts are still required to quarantine at this time: 

If your student is considered a close contact within the AF building, you WILL be contacted and be required to quarantine your student.  As always, AF determines close contacts as:

• All students who ride a bus with a positive individual
• Seating Charts:  if they have been within 3 feet of an infected child or 6 ft of an infected adult for a cumulative of 15+ minutes over a 24-hour period..
• UPDATE: Due to the volume of COVID cases we may experience in the upcoming weeks, you will be notified of a close contact case via PARENTSQUARE (text, call, email) and a letter home. Please ensure you have access to parentsquare at all times.
• School work can be accessed via Google Classroom while your student is in quarantine. 

Pending the arrival of At-Home Tests kits, they will be distributed to the following:

• Students who develop symptoms while at school.  Your student will be sent home with a home-testing kit.
• NOTE: The person should take the first test as soon as they arrive home, and the second test 24 hours later.

• The student can return ONLY if the following is true:
  • They receive two negative home tests (1 taken immediately and 1 taken 24 hours later) OR if they receive a negative PCR test result.
  • They have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of medication/symptoms are generally improving.
• If a student tests positive: the family must immediately inform the school and the student must quarantine for 10 days regardless of vaccination status.

Our existing safety policies are critically important to minimizing the spread of COVID in our schools. Specifically, our leadership team will double-down on the following policies:

• Proper mask wearing – Ensuring masks are covering both mouth and nose.
• Social distancing – Students should be 3 feet apart while masked; adults should maintain 6 feet of distance.
• Stay home if sick – Now is the time to err on the side of being more conservative, especially given Omicron’s reported milder symptoms.
• Ventilation – Ensure doors/windows are open and ventilation systems are in place; air purifier in each homeroom.

Upgraded High Filtration Masks

• We are working to secure upgraded high filtration masks and will distribute these once received.
• We strongly encourage all staff and students to wear upgraded masks until further notice.
• For adults this means wearing a N95, KN95, or KF94 masks.
• For students, this means wearing a child-sized surgical mask or child-sized KF94 or KN95.

 Main Office Contact Information: 

Achievement First Crown Heights Elementary

crownheightselementary2@achievementfirst.org

347-471-2580

Hi families, Thank you for attending our first townhall of the year! Please see below some FAQ’s answered by Dr. Johnson- if you have any additional questions please reach out to us at crownheightselementary2@achievementfirst.org.